Almost 70 per cent of Essex parents believe that today's fairy tales are 'too sanitised', according to an education company survey.
Explore Learning, which provides English and maths tuition in 90 centres across the UK, including one in the Chelmsford Springfield Sainsbury's store, announced their findings earlier this week.
Head of Curriculum at the firm, Carey Ann Dodah, told the Chronicle: "I think what parents feel is that modern versions of classics which have been re-written are less scary.
"I noticed that the tale of Peter Rabbit has changed from when I was younger. I still have the Beatrix Potter set I grew up with which told how Peter Rabbit's father was eventually put in a pie by the farmer. However, my daughters' modern copy of the story of Peter Rabbit skirts this issue."
She believes that the tales are less engaging nowadays – and lose impact as a result.
"It is important to have a happy ending. A little adrenaline in the course of the story adds excitement and makes the fairy tale memorable which is important because most carry a useful moral.
"They are an important asset to a child's learning because they show children that when it comes to creativity, the sky is the limit. After reading fairy tales with children, we see such imagination reflected in their writing."
The survey also showed that 67 per cent of parents did not read to their children every night, while 78 per cent of parents say their children either never write stories or only do when tasked to by their teachers.
But the findings also show that 89 per cent of parents say that writing stories helps develop their children's imagination.
Top three scariest fairy tale characters:
- Evil Queen from Snow White
- The witch in Hansel and Gretel
- The big bad wolf in Little Red Riding Hood
- Snow White
- Cinderella
- Jack and the Beanstalk
